


New Life

by fringeperson



Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/M, I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote this and I know better now, Old Fic, but I'm not going to deny its existance just because it's old and bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27446869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fringeperson/pseuds/fringeperson
Summary: Yuki was always insisting that Haru did NOT belong in the Cat Kingdom... so why does she want her there now?~Originally posted in '08
Relationships: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen/Yoshioka Haru, Lune/Yuki (Neko no Ongaeshi)
Kudos: 7





	1. Running Terrified

**Author's Note:**

> I warn you again, this is Very Old Writing - and I haven't changed anything except a couple of typos.

"Get Baron, get Haru, get them – _Aargh!_ – Get them quickly!" Yuki cried, her normally lovely white fur drenched with sweat. Her lovely blue eyes were almost feverish. "Lune, go now!" she cried again, tugging her paw from his, gritting her teeth.

Lune didn't want to leave her, but she wanted Haru and Baron with her for this, and he wouldn't let her down. He also wouldn't trust fetching them to anyone else after what happened last time. The king ran from the room for all the world as though the fires of hell were chasing him.

 _Don't worry Yuki, I'll get them here,_ he promised silently, running on all four of his feet for greater speed as he climbed the tower to the exit. It had been fixed since Haru and the Bureau left the Cat Kingdom, it was in the right place again now, Lune didn't have to worry about falling to his death.

Lune avoided the streets; he had been lucky that Haru had been there to save him that day and he didn't want to risk not being on the same street as her when he tried crossing another. He headed to her school over rooftops and along garden fences.

"I love the last day of school," the voice drifted up from the sidewalk just beneath him. "Early out, and this time I don't have to worry about coming back next year!"

"Yeah," Lune stopped. That was Haru's voice, he knew it. "Only you have to worry about what you're gonna do with the rest of your life now."

Lune jumped down from the roof to the sidewalk and ran in the direction of the young, uniformed ladies.

"Haru! Miss Haru!" he called, panting, with a jump he didn't know he had the energy for, he landed in the young woman's arms.

"Lune! What're you doing here?" Haru asked the cat, surprised to see her friend the King in her arms, shaking from stress and exhaustion.

"It's Yuki," he gasped out, on the verge of collapse.

"Alright, I'm coming," Haru said. Lune recognised that she was strained to sound light-hearted about it, probably for her companion's sake. "See you later Hiromi," the brunette added, waving to her friend as she walked off with his majesty in her arms.

"Now, what's this about Yuki?" Haru asked quietly, her feet moving quickly to the crossroads.

"She wants you and Baron, fast," Lune said, slowly getting his breath back as he rested in the arms of the girl who had saved his life. "It's our first litter, she's scared, and I'm terrified."

Haru smiled down at him before her features set and her legs started to really move. Running was no problem for her any more, as long as it was relatively flat – uphill she still had to slow down now and then to catch her breath – she had been staying very fit since running the labyrinth.

"There's Muta," Lune said, leaping down from Haru's arms when he spotted the massive white hairball that was the numero-uno criminal of his realm, but also a good friend.

"Muta, I need to talk to the Baron, fast," Lune said, desperately appealing to the old grouch. "Yuki's in labour with our first littler."

Muta, the famous, and infamous, fat cat hadn't moved when Lune approached him, saying he needed the Baron. Didn't do more than twitch his ears when he saw Haru a tail-length behind the monarch. When Lune said the words "first litter" though, a panicked look spread over his globular features and he started running.

It was a more direct rout than he had taken with Haru when they had all first met, but then, he hadn't been insulted this time, and first litters were always a reason to hurry in his book.

"Baron! We've got an emergency here!" he called, dashing into the refuge still at full speed.

Lune jumped down from Haru's arms again. When Muta had started running, Haru had scooped up the blue-grey and followed. She knew what it was like to try and keep running on near empty, and Lune had looked wan when he found her. It wouldn't do him, Yuki, or the kittens any good if he killed himself by moving too fast with too little air in his lungs.


	2. Lightspeed Too Slow

Baron didn't waste time with a light show – he knew what emergency meant: it meant move as fast as you can. There wouldn't be time for tea and cake either, which was a shame.

"Miss Haru? King Lune? Muta what's going on?" he asked, still drawing on his tailcoat as he left the door of the Bureau behind. There was confusion riddled over his fine furred features.

"Yuki wants you both," Lune said, his breath coming more evenly thanks to Haru carrying him, rather than having to do his own running. "She's in labour."

Baron looked sharply at Lune. The king's eyes were wide and frightened. The figurine almost smiled, the phrase "pregnant father" coming to mind. He had seen it before – the mother insisting that she was fine, the father insisting that she couldn't be because _he_ felt nauseous.

"At your service, your majesty," said Baron, bowing stiffly in a way that managed to convey a want to be moving also.

Lune nodded and conjured a portal to his kingdom. He ran in, anxious to be with his wife again. Haru was hardly a pace behind him with Baron bringing up the rear.

 _Definitely a pregnant father,_ the orange cat thought to himself, holding onto his silk top hat as he followed at speed through the cat tails. It wasn't his top speed, if it was he would have over-taken Lune and probably be lost in the palace by now. It was better to follow.

A scream filled the castle, causing the small party to stop a moment, listening in fear.

"We're coming Yuki," Lune said, running once more.

Haru slowed down when she saw the stairs Lune was headed for. She didn't have the energy to run up those, and she knew it. Stopping for a moment, she puffed a bit before moving to take the dreaded climb, slower than she wanted to, but she would go as fast as her body would let her.

The brief pause had given her legs time to gather a committee and agree to complain, loudly. Haru felt her thigh muscles burn and her knees turn to water, then, mercifully, she felt herself being swept up off her feet.

"Thanks Baron," she said, looking up at him. She took the chance to breathe normally again, just as Lune had done when she was carrying him. The girl doubted, however, that his royal cat-majesty had checked her out beneath his lashes while she was carrying him, as she was now with Baron.

He was still dashing and handsome. Haru was hot all over, so blushing wasn't an issue, and she was still too out of breath to sigh, so she turned from her secret study of her favourite feline hunk to see where they were going. The staircase was long, but she could see a landing ahead, and Lune was slowing to take the turn into it.

"Yuki! Yuki, I've brought them!" he called, frantic, as he dashed into the first curtained room on their left.

Baron put Haru down just the other side of the dividing curtain and they walked in – quickly – in time to hear the doctor instructing the nearly exhausted queen to push.

Yuki screamed again, and Haru ran to her side. Lune was on the other side of the bed, holding one of Yuki's pale paws in his dark ones, Haru followed his example and took Yuki's other paw in her hands, stroking it as the queen screamed in agony, pushing.

Baron looked about him; he wasn't about to take a third paw, it would be inappropriate. Yuki wasn't the only one in the room screaming, he noticed. She had already delivered two kittens. He smiled, gently tickling the paler one about the neck as he lay on his back in the cot beside his darker sister.

The screams stopped and a nurse brought a third kitten to join the two already in the cot. Baron entertained himself with the little ones while Yuki grunted with the efforts of ejecting the after-birth, and then that too was over.

Careful to not hurt them in any way, Baron bundled the kittens up and brought them to their mother. Now that the pain was over, and the little ones were mewling adorably, everyone was wearing smiles.


	3. And Breathe Out

Lune wrapped his arms around Yuki's shoulders and kissed her while the kittens tasted their first milk.

"You're so lucky, Yuki," Haru said softly, her brown eyes soft with love for her friend. "Kittens, it must be wonderful." The girl absently wrapped her arms around the nearest body and rested against it; utterly content with the way the world was at that instant.

Baron stiffened a moment, surprised, but looking down at Haru, then at Yuki, Lune and the kittens, he realised that he was happy too, though he had no idea why. He let a hand rest on Haru's shoulder, and hugged her gently.

"I think I'd like to have kittens one day," Haru said. Everyone looked sharply at her. "Er, children. I meant children. I'm not turning into a cat again am I? It was just a slip of the tongue?" she suggested hopefully.

Baron put a hand on each of Haru's shoulders and examined her at arm's length, his sharp green eyes critical of the sweet creature before him.

"No, you're still yourself Miss Haru," he said eventually. He knew he had taken longer than was required to reach that decision, but he had rather enjoyed just looking at her. It had been a year since they had last seen each other, and she had done some growing up in that time.

"Oh good," Haru said with a sigh – she had been holding her breath. Relieved that it had just been a slip of the tongue, the girl wrapped her arms around the Baron once more and gazed dreamily at the new parents and royal litter.

"What will you call them?" she asked, her cheek resting against the orange gentleman's shoulder.

"Haru," Lune said, pointing to the dark female. "Muta," he continued, ruffling the fur of the last kitten that had been born. "And Humbert," he finished. His two-tone gaze fixed on the pale kitten Baron had tickled. Of all the kittens in the litter, only little Humbert had his father's eyes. "If that's alright with you my love," he added quickly, turning his attention once more to the – still sweat-drenched – white cat who held the kittens in her arms.

Yuki smiled and kissed his cheek. "Silly," she said softly, lying back on the bed.

Lune smiled back at the queen of his heart. She agreed with him, and he loved her. Surely the world couldn't be more perfect, could it?

"I think we had better let you get your sleep," Baron said, his arm draped around Haru once more in an almost-hug. "Come on Miss Haru, I'll walk you home," he offered, letting his hand slip from her shoulder to claim a hand that had fallen from around him when he moved slightly out of her hold.

"I'd like that," she admitted softly, smiling up at him. "Goodbye Yuki, your Majesty," the girl added with a wave, following the one she was head-over-heels for out of the room.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs and had the room to walk side by side once more, Haru wrapped her other hand around the one the Baron was already holding and her head fell to rest on his shoulder again. It really was nice to see him again, and just walk with him, not saying anything. There wasn't anything that needed to be said really, as far as she knew anyway. It was just a comfortable silence.

The Baron felt his heart churning. The silence seemed to weigh down upon him. There was something he needed to say, he knew it, it was a nagging thought at the back of his mind, but he had no idea what it was he was supposed to say. Eventually, his mouth went on ahead without him: "Kittens?" he asked. His mind raced to try and figure out where this was suddenly going.

"The idea is very appealing – having children, that is," she answered, rubbing her cheek against the fabric of his pale grey jacket. "What about you?"

For the first time in his life, the Baron tripped over his own feet, he even got his cane mixed up in it, making it worse.

Haru laughed softly and took the cane from him, rubbing her cheek against his arm again in reassurance.

"I think you'd be a pregnant father like Lune," she teased softly.


	4. Baby Talk

Baron walked with an expression like a stunned fish for a moment, barely able to take in that Haru was making fun.

They reached the base of the tower without saying another word, just walking, holding hands and thinking their own private thoughts.

"I saw the way you looked at those kittens, Baron," Haru said at last, when they reached the part of the tower where it changed – went from an outer stair to an inner one. Her words were just soft, wistful-like, and her big brown eyes seemed to look inwards, rather than at the stairs beneath her feet.

"It would be nice, one day, to be a parent, wouldn't it?" she suggested, just a few stairs away from the very top.

"Yes, Miss Haru, it would be very nice," Baron agreed. Coming to a halt just before the wind could reach for his top hat, the gentleman cat looked at the stair beneath him and said something that surprised Haru. "I just don't see it ever happening to me."

"Why's that?" Haru asked, stunned. "Any girl would be overjoyed to settle down with a gentleman like you," she added softly, trying to be confiding and comforting.

"A gentleman _like_ me," he reiterated for her, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her, his green eyes amused and tired. "If they could only find another me in their species. I have yet to meet the young lady that would give up everything and become a statuette, just because I'm a fine gentleman."

His words were not bitter, they could have been. Rather, the figure sounded resigned to this fate.

"Ever asked anyone?" Haru queried, not at all certain that she was ready for the answer. She had feelings for him after all, however unsure of them she might be.

"No," Baron admitted. He resumed movement and soon they were standing by the lake that marked the location of the Cat Kingdom – the way in for those who could not summon a portal, the only way out, for everyone. "It would only have caused pain for everyone involved. The girl for knowing that I cared, me for knowing they didn't care as much as I thought she did, and at least dented hearts on both sides."

Haru sat down and, removing shoes and socks, dabbled her toes in the lake by starlight. She hadn't realised how late it was until they came out, but the silence of the early spring night was pleasant.

"You're thinking of one girl in particular Baron, I can tell," Haru said softly. She willed her heart to calm down rather than beat a broken tattoo in her chest. "Memories that aren't all happy," she guessed.

Baron sounded a quiet, derisive laugh. "Dreams I'm not brave enough to make come true," he answered, skipping a pebble across the lake surface before he too sat down.

Haru privately wished that she were still small enough to lean against the Baron in that comforting way she often did with her other friends. She couldn't even wrap an arm around him properly. It was awkward, being so incompatible in their sizes.

"School finished today," the brunette said, appearing to change the subject as her amber-chocolate eyes stared out over the reflected stars. "I'm at a loose end. After seeing Yuki, I don't really want to go to university or get a job any more. I think I'd like to be someone's housewife, but…" Haru sighed. She knew exactly who she was, she was comfortable with that, and more confident than she had been this time last year, but she also was very aware of one definite reality.

"But what?" prompted Baron, surprised that there was a "but" left in the girl's life after all that she had accomplished – Muta occasionally had lunch with Haru, and brought back news of what she had been up to.

"But I don't know anyone that would ask _me_ , of all people to marry them, and I can't ask because I'm a girl – it would be too forward. Ha!" Haru laughed derisively, just as Baron had a moment ago. "I want to settle down and have kids, and _this_ is the closest thing I've ever had to being on a date," she sighed, taking a deep breath of the cooling air, filled with the scent of flora going to sleep for the night. "It's nice though. Wouldn't trade it for a fancy dinner and a movie if I was paid to."


	5. Dates and Sultanas

Baron was startled by Haru's false laughter. He didn't understand humans; how could they possibly pass over this girl who was so beautiful in spirit and body? The orange cat rubbed his neck with a gloved hand and looked down at his reflection in the lake.

It was distorted by the ripples Haru's toes were still making, but it didn't matter. He knew what he looked like well enough. Sometimes it just helped to see what other people did, and stare himself in the eye until he'd figured out what it was he wasn't telling himself.

"I said I'd walk you home," he said, rising from his seat in the grass. "I'd better do that. I expect your mother is worrying about where you are." Actually, Baron didn't want to go anywhere yet, but they couldn't just stay where they were all night.

Haru shook her head, smiling down at Baron, the full moon giving just enough light for her to be able to see him. Baron was much better off, having a cat's excellent night vision.

"Like I said: I just finished school today. As long as I'm home before she wakes up, Mum will just think I went to a party at Hiromi's or something, and since tomorrow is Saturday, she won't be awake until nearly noon. We have lots of time," Haru said, turning back to just stare at that point in the distance where the darkness of the trees changed to the darkness of the star-studded sky.

Baron sat down again and tapped his foot with his cane for a moment before shifting a little closer to Haru. The night was deepening, the temperature was dropping, and Haru didn't have a jumper or anything to keep her warm. He would have liked to give her his jacket. As he had fur, a long-sleeved shirt and a vest underneath, he was fine, but he could see goosebumps showing up on her arms.

He didn't look at her legs.

The peaceful silence of crickets, frogs, and the odd owl going about their night's business was interrupted when Haru yawned, and then sneezed.

"Actually, bed sounds really appealing," she said, carefully taking her hands from her nose and wiping at her eyes. "Tea, and bed." It did sound good, and she had missed dinner, being in the Cat Kingdom with Yuki when she was supposed to be eating with her mother.

Baron stood and was offering his hand to help her up before he remembered that she was taller than he was in this world.

Haru smiled and scooped him up in her arms, catching Baron by surprise. The girl was soon on her feet with Baron riding on her shoulder.

"Now, I just have to figure out which way to go," she said, wandering a couple of steps in the direction of what looked like the lights of a city at night – the general area of her home.

"I can get us to the Bureau," Baron said, still slightly in shock from Haru picking him up the way she had. "Mostly I just do lights, but a portal to the Bureau isn't that much harder, if you would like."

Haru smiled at the offer, and was tempted to turn her head just that little bit further and kiss his furry cheek, but stopped herself. Kissing didn't happen until at least the second date, and this probably didn't even count as a first. She settled for saying: "Yes, thank you Baron," and walked through the portal he conjured. Lune's portal had been rimmed with blue light, as had the portals of a year ago when she had been kidnapped, but Baron's portals had a golden light about them.

It didn't really matter, but Haru spared a thought for why that might be. It wasn't anything that would keep her awake at night, still, it was interesting that the real cats had blue magic and Baron had gold.

"Thank you Baron, I can find my way home from here," Haru said, relief all through her voice, meaning she would have gotten lost if she had tried to find her way from the lake.

"I'm sure you can, Miss Haru, but I would rather walk you home than just say goodbye here," Baron answered, not getting down from Haru's shoulder. "The streets are not as safe at night as they are with the sun shining down upon them."

Streets are always safe; it's the people on them that aren't, hiding in shadows with underhanded plans in mind, or driving badly for some reason or other. A street is relatively harmless, unless you fall on it from a height, in which case landing will very probably hurt. Haru did not think like this, but agreed with another smile to him walking her home, even if she was the only one actually walking.

"Baron, do you remember when we said goodbye last year? I told you I had a crush on you?" Haru asked, walking down the streets, turning corners, waiting at the lights for the night time traffic to stop so that she could go.

"Yes Miss Haru, I remember," he answered softly. His long orange tail twitched with sadness at the memory – it had not been an easy farewell.

"It isn't true any more," she said. "A crush is a silly little feeling that girls keep bottled up inside and don't do anything about. How I feel about you shouldn't be described as a little crush."

Haru had reached her door, and sat down on the doorstep to think out her words carefully while she searched her pockets for her key to the front door.

Baron would have sworn his heart stopped beating when Haru said she didn't have a crush on him any more, except that he had definitely felt it pound heavily, almost like it was splitting in two. He managed to climb down from her shoulder to the front step, but he couldn't speak.

"Lust isn't the right word either," Haru continued, finding the key and staring at it in the slightly orange glow cast by the streetlight. "Lust is a bodily thing, just wanting. I don't recall ever feeling lust… but I haven't exactly lead a life that would cause me to."

Haru sighed and stood up, putting her key into the lock. She looked down at the statuette, the Baron, and knew she was tired, or she wouldn't have been brave enough to say what she was about to.

"I'm just plain in love with you," she said, "and there's not a thing I can do about it, even if I wanted to."


	6. All the Trappings

"Who's there?" a voice called from inside the house. The white beam of a flashlight sprung into life and caught Haru full in the face.

"Ow! Mum, it's just me," Haru said, throwing up an arm as a defence against the sudden intense light that was shining in her face. The girl took a couple of steps into the entrance-way, and closed her eyes before flicking on the light. Blinking a few times to allow her eyes to adjust to the new brightness, Haru lowered her arm and saw her mother standing there in her pyjamas.

Naoko's red hair was a mess, her glasses were absent, and there was a pair of fluffy pink slippers on her feet. She was also carrying a frying pan in addition to the torch.

"Mum, why are you awake?" Haru asked, gently taking the frying pan away and turning off the torch.

"I heard voices at the front door," the middle-aged woman admitted. "I suppose that was you, but who was the other voice?"

Haru looked over her shoulder at the doorstep. Baron was still there, his mouth hanging open in surprise. A corner of her mouth crept up in a crooked smile.

"Won't you come in Baron? It's late to be out after all," offered the brunette girl, her amber-chocolate eyes ready to shut, her eyelids already becoming heavy with over-due sleep. She covered another yawn.

"Go to bed Mum," she ordered sleepily. "Morning is for questions, now is for sleeping."

Baron stepped in to the house and followed Haru when she went to put the frying pan away in the kitchen, where it belonged.

"There's cushions and blankets everywhere," she said, rather needlessly. Such trappings were obvious. "Make yourself comfortable Baron, I'll see you in the morning," she covered a yawn that was too big to stifle. "Good night."

"Good night Miss Haru," Baron answered. The gentleman cat removed his hat, jacket, vest, bow tie and gloves, and lay them out with his cane and shoes beneath the coffee table. Divested of these excess items of dress, he jumped lightly up onto the main couch and tugged the corner of a quilt over him as he lay down on a very comfortable cushion. It felt good, going to sleep.

Haru tucked herself in and snuggled down to dream. It had been a good day, so as she drifted off to the land of nod there was a smile on her face.

Lying on the couch, the gentleman dreamt; he dreamed that he got up from the couch, a man rather than a cat figurine, and ascended the stairs to Miss Haru's room. In his dream, her room was painted a cheerful daffodil yellow, and she slept in a canopied four-poster bed. He knelt down beside the bed and took her hand as she slept. For a while he just gazed upon her face, tranquil in sleep.

"Yes Baron, I'll marry you," she said, opening her eyes to look at him.

The world of his dream changed, he was at a church, and Haru was walking down the isle, resplendent in white silk. He took her hand, and was surprised by how tightly she held onto him.

"Push!" the priest said, and Baron looked again. Haru wore no wedding dress, but a hospital gown, and her stomach was swollen. She screamed, covered in sweat.

Baron woke with a gasp of his own, his bright green eyes wide with fright. Shaking, he climbed down from his cushion on the couch and retrieved his belongings from the coffee table as the sun began to rise. He was just re-tying his tie when a _thump_ overhead startled him.

Haru came quietly down the stairs shortly after and headed straight for the kitchen. She put some water on to boil and fetched out her own blend of tea.

"That was one weird dream," she muttered, putting a hand to her head as she waited for the water to boil. Turning to lean against the kitchen bench, the girl noticed that Baron was also awake.

"Good morning," she said, slightly surprised. "You're not leaving already are you Baron?"

"No," he answered, bemused. He jumped up onto one of the two chairs, and then to the table top, where he sat down. "No Miss Haru, I just had a strange dream, and didn't think I would be able to go back to sleep."

"That makes two," Haru said, smiling. The water was boiled and she put in the tea leaves to steep while she searched for cups. It was easy to find one for herself, but finding something that the Baron would be able to use was a bit harder. At last, she found something passable – a cup that had once been part of a doll's tea set. It looked rather silly, childish was the right word, but at least it was about the right size.


	7. Tea

She gave both cups a rinse and poured the tea. Haru sighed, the cup was ridiculous, but it really was the best she had to offer to the Baron. At least she didn't look as silly as the crockery – she had swapped her pyjamas for a white top with red trim and a pair of blue jeans.

"The tea is wonderful," Baron said, sighing with delight at the smell and taste of it.

"It's my own special blend," Haru told him, a smile on her face. "It's always a little different, so I'm glad you like it," she added, enjoying the aroma for a moment before sipping from her own cup. Amber-chocolate eyes closed in contentment and she "mm"ed happily.

Haru didn't stay sat at the small table for long; she made breakfast – salad, eggs, toast and cereal. If it had been a colder morning, Haru would have made porridge and laid out the honey and sugar as well as the milk, but it was warm for early spring, so she didn't. She only made enough for herself and Baron, since she knew her mother would sleep late – a Saturday habit, Naoko was up in plenty of time every other day of the week, Saturdays were just her slow days. Everyone needed them now and then.

"So, what was your dream about?" Haru asked, setting plates down and taking another sip of her tea.

Baron was caught by surprise and barely prevented himself from spitting out his tea in shock. When he was recovered, he put his teacup down and tried to recall the dream.

"It's already hard to remember," he started. "I think I was human, and I'm fairly sure you were in it, and a priest said push. I'm afraid that's all that I can remember of it."

"That's alright," Haru said, buttering her toast. "Want to hear mine?" she asked, smiling. She took a bite of toast while Baron nodded, meaning that he would like to hear. Swallowing her mouthful, she put down the golden slice and recounted her little adventure in dreamland.

"I was a cat again, and you and I were dancing, only we were in the Bureau instead of the Cat Kingdom. Then we had to stop dancing because there were kittens everywhere. I rushed to catch one that had climbed out on a balcony, and fell when it landed on me, then I was in the floor in my room awake," she shrugged and took another bite of toast.

"You want kittens so much you dream about it," Baron joked. He used some aluminium foil as a spoon to eat the breakfast Haru had set before him, and his emerald eyes shone, delighting in the taste. Here was something he hadn't even known that he was missing in his life: scrambled eggs.

Haru covered her mouth, smiling with a mouthful of food is not so attractive, particularly when the smile wants to give way to giggles. At last, she was able to answer; "Paws and tails, and they grow up faster than human children," she said, feeling content.

The young woman had every reason to be content: good food, good company, good tea, and her mother wasn't currently making a mess of the house with her quilting fabrics. The only possible damper was the proportional differences, and maybe species, but it didn't matter that much. She had told him how she felt about him, and their differences didn't matter to her heart.

"May I pose a hypothetical situation to you Miss Haru?" Baron asked, considering those parts of the previous night that his mind was not letting him forget.

"If you have something to ask, Baron, just ask. What's the point in being hypothetical? Alright," Haru said, hands up in deference. "What am I being hypothetical about?"

"Us," the figurine said simply. He felt as though he were walking on thin ice, though he knew Haru was comfortable with the idea… it was still unchartered waters for him.

"Sounds good so far," Haru said, her head in her hands as she listened.

Baron took a breath, reassured by the smile on the brunette's face. He pushed on, slowly becoming surer as he figured out what he was trying to get at.

"If you had the choice, Miss Haru, would you rather see me become human, or would you be happy to become a statuette cat and live in the Bureau?"

"When we were dancing in the Cat Kingdom a year ago," started Haru, phrasing her answer carefully. "I can remember thinking that being a cat wouldn't be so bad. It bothered me that no one had asked me first though. The life of a cat is much easier than that of a human," she added.


	8. Hypothetical Theoretical Concept

"With perhaps the exception of food," Haru concluded, delicately wrapping some scrambled egg up in a lettuce leaf.

Baron smiled, relieved.

"The Bureau feeds Muta and Toto as well as myself," he said, picking up his teacup and negotiating a sip. The hot brown liquid calmed him and he lined up the words in his head, ready for his mouth to speak them, wanting them to be right.

"Haru, will you marry me?" asked the statuette.

Haru wove her fingers together, rested her elbows on the table, and her chin on her hands. A "Mona Lisa" smile snuck across her features as she considered all the different ways she could give the same answer.

"No," the answer came from the door.

Haru looked up in surprise, and Baron turned, afraid of he didn't know what. Naoko stood there, he cheeks almost as red as her hair, and a grim expression was securely fixed in place.

"She won't marry you, whoever you are," Naoko said, storming slowly into the kitchen. "She's too young to marry anyone."

"Mum, this is Baron," Haru said. "I suppose I should have introduced you last night, but sleep seemed more important at the time, and school's finished Mum. I'm out of the system. Legally, I _am_ old enough to get married," the daughter pointed out to her mother. Haru had to turn in her chair a few times to keep an eye on what Naoko was doing as she talked.

"I don't care. _I_ say you're not allowed to get married for at least another two years."

"Am I allowed to spend those two years engaged?" Haru asked, completely straight. There was no hint of joking or sarcasm or anything like that, even her face was serious, even slightly angry.

Baron's heart thudded in his chest. Haru was accepting him, even if her mother wasn't, she was finding any way she could to accept him. He watched his possibly-future-mother-in-law carefully, eagerly. The statuette wanted her to agree. He wanted her to concede to this small compromise, for Haru's sake more than for his, after all, he didn't age.

"Alright," Naoko said with a sigh, clearly giving way against her better judgement.

Haru bounded out of her chair and hugged her mother fiercely, ecstatic. "Thank you, oh, thank you Mum," she said, over and over again, tears running down her face.

Baron couldn't stop smiling either, and his hands itched in their gloves to cast the magic that would transform Haru into a kittenish statuette to which he could be married. He didn't do it though, two years were the last barrier between Haru and himself, and he would respect it.

"Hiromi is never going to believe this," Haru said, sitting down in her chair again, an irrepressible smile plastered across her face. "I don't care," she added, and broke out in laughter as she tried to picture the wedding. "I can hardly wait to be a domestic housewife, with kittens."

Baron smiled too, and wrapped his arms around Haru's neck, relieved, happy and just a little dizzy from it all. "And we'll go dancing every night," he promised quietly, getting another little laugh from his fiance.


	9. Pregnant Fathers

Yuki held one of Haru's hands in her paws, Lune behind her, lending his support.

Baron was sweating as much as his young wife. It had been a terrifying seven months for him. Yuki's pregnancy had lasted a little over two months, and human's usually took nine months to bring their little ones to term, but neither Baron or Haru had ever been completely certain how long she would be pregnant for, or how the baby was doing. All they could do was be careful.

Haru had still gotten up to make breakfast every day, and they still danced every night at her request, until Haru's stomach had gotten in the way and they had been forced to stop.

"Push now," said the cat doctor Lune had summoned to help Haru with the birth.

Haru pushed, and screamed, and grabbed tightly at every hand she could. She pushed again, and again, and kept on pushing, stopping between pushes only long enough to take another breath. At last, she felt empty and knew that it was over.

"You know," Haru said quietly to Baron, still holding his hand. Sweat-soaked, she rolled onto her side a little so that she could look at him. "You have been a pregnant father," she informed him. "Where?" she asked, turning back to the doctor.

The grey old cat held up two little bundles, wrapped carefully up in blankets.

Baron took the bundles from him and returned to his wife's side, handing them to her so that she could at last see the little bodies that had been kicking her from the inside.

"So name them already," she said, smiling at her love and kissing him just beneath the whiskers, playful despite her exhaustion.

Baron pulled back the blankets carefully and looked at his children. Two precious little girls covered in peachy-orange fur, their little hands curling open and shut, sometimes closing over their tails or ears. He may have been a pregnant father, but he was so proud of Haru for bringing these little gems into his life, and so very in love with her.

"Well, I don't think we can get away with calling them Yuki and Lune," he said, looking from his little ones to Haru and then the royal couple who had come to be with them.

They all shook their heads in agreement; it just wouldn't work as smoothly as it had with the royal litter of kittens.

They were around somewhere, exploring the Bureau, probably annoying Muta out in the courtyard. Little Muta seemed particularly taken with the old fatso, his namesake, and followed him around. His mother worried that her youngest kitten was picking up bad habits from the old rogue, but his teachers would keep the kitten in check when they returned to the Cat Kingdom.

"How about… Mary, and Rebecca?" Baron suggested, tickling his daughters each as he named them.

"Sounds good to me," Haru answered. "Now, papa, give me a proper hug," she ordered, using his new title as father of her children, a huge smile on her face.


End file.
